MLB star inks 100 million deal

MLB star inks 100 million deal

From Comcast SportsNetST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Evan Longoria wants to be with the Tampa Bay Rays for his entire big league career.The slugging third baseman got his wish Monday when they Rays agreed to a 136.6 million, 10-year contract that adds six guaranteed seasons and 100 million."I always wanted to be kind of a benchmark player ... the guy that you could think about or associate with the organization," Longoria said. "My goal from Day One was to be the first player that played their whole career here, to be the first guy that came into the organization and went out in the organization, and played all the years in between. There's no better place for me."The agreement with the three-time All-Star incorporates the remainder of the 27-year-old's existing contract, which called for him to earn 36.6 million over the next four seasons. The new deal includes a team option for 2023 that could make the deal worth 144.6 million over 11 years."It's a very exciting day for us," Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg said. "For Evan to have the confidence in us, and I know the confidence that we have in him, to re-up so to speak for the long haul. This is just an enormous commitment for us."Longoria said a no-trade provision is not included in the deal, although after the second day of the 2018 season he would have a right to block trades as a 10-year veteran who spent his last five years with the same team.Just six games into his major league career, Longoria agreed in April 2008 to a 17.5 million, six-year contract that included club options potentially making the deal worth 44 million over nine seasons."The significance of this is not lost on anybody," Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. "We're extending that commitment now."His new deal calls for a 5,000,180 signing bonus -- the 180 is for good luck. Of the signing bonus, 1,000,180 is new money payable Dec. 15 and the rest is pair of 2 million payments on Feb. 15 and June 14. His 2013 salary is reduced from 6 million to 2 million.Longoria's salaries remain 7.5 million for 2014, 11 million for 2015 and 12.1 million for 2016. The new deal adds salaries of 13 million for 2017, 13.5 million for 2018, 14.5 million for 2019, 15 million for 2020, 18.5 million for 2021 and 19.5 million for 2022.Tampa Bay holds a 13 million option for 2023 with a 5 million buyout, and escalators could raise the option price to 18 million.Longoria became just the seventh player with a contract guaranteed through 2020. Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun, Detroit first baseman Prince Fielder, Chicago Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler and Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki have deals covering the next eight years, with Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols' contract running through 2021 and Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto's through 2023.Tampa Bay selected Longoria as the third overall pick in the 2006 amateur draft, making him the first player drafted under Sternberg and Friedman.Longoria played in just 74 games in 2012 because of a partially torn left hamstring. He underwent a minor surgical cleanup procedure on the hamstring Nov. 20 and is expected to be ready for spring training."With the time that we had now, there's no doubt that I'd be able to recover and be at 100 percent or close to it by (the start of) spring training," Longoria said.Longoria will rehab the leg during the winter and will not participate in next year's World Baseball Classic.Tampa Bay was 41-44 during Longoria's absence, and 47-27 with him in the starting lineup.The two-time AL Gold Glove winner and 2008 AL Rookie of the Year ranks second on the Rays career list with 130 home runs, third with 456 RBIs and fourth with 161 doubles. Longoria is one of 11 active players to average at least 25 homers and 90 RBIs during his first five seasons.Longoria will donate more than 1 million during the contract to the Rays Baseball Foundation, the team's charitable foundation.Sternberg said this deal does not rule out the possibility of signing other Tampa Bay players to mulityear contracts, such as AL Cy Young Award winner David Price. The Rays were at the bottom of the big leagues in home attendance this year."One of the challenges we'll have is figuring out how to take the next step for our organization," Sternberg said.Tampa Bay and Longoria had brief, preliminary contract talks before the season began and resumed discussions after the season ended."We kind of tried to find a middle ground to where we would able to do some things to be able to afford some players to put ourselves in a position to win every year," Longoria said. "And I told them from the beginning that I didn't want to be the one sucking up all the payroll so we can't afford anybody else."

Sullinger on Celtics: 'I watch from a distance, I support from a distance'

Sullinger on Celtics: 'I watch from a distance, I support from a distance'

BOSTON – The trip to the TD Garden is one that Jared Sullinger has made many times but never like this.

The former Celtic was back in town with his new team, the Toronto Raptors who signed him to a one-year, $5.6 million deal after the Celtics rescinded their qualifying offer to him and thus made him an unrestricted free agent.

“I had a feeling it was going to go that way once they signed big Al (Horford), that they were going to let me go,” Sullinger said prior to Friday’s game. “We were prepared for it. It is what it is. I’m happy these guys are doing well.”

And he hopes to say the same for himself sometime in the future after undergoing surgery to have a screw inserted in the fifth metatarsal of his left foot – the same foot he had season-ending surgery on during the 2014-2015 season with the Celtics.

There’s no specific timetable as to when he’ll be back on the floor, and Sullinger is cool with that plan.

“I don’t know. They’re hiding the protocol from me so I won’t rush; we’ll see,” said Sullinger who is still in a walking boot.

The 6-foot-9 forward played well in the preseason and solidified himself as the team’s starting power forward.

Now that he’s out with another injury, he’ll have to once again try and prove himself either later this season when he returns, or this summer when he becomes a free agent again.

For now, Sullinger is happy to be back in town, seeing lots of familiar faces, friends and ex-teammates that he says he still keeps in close contact with.

“Some of these guys I considered like brothers to me,” Sullinger said. “IT (Isaiah Thomas), Jae Crowder to name a few. So I watch from a distance, I support from a distance. They’re playing well.”

In addition to his former teammates, the lines of communication remained open between him and Celtics head coach Brad Stevens as well.

Stevens said the two exchanged text messages right before he had foot surgery, and afterwards.

“Obviously, everyone here wishes a speedy recovery and hopefully he gets back on the court soon,” Stevens said.

Sullinger has been an effective player during his time in the NBA, with career averages of 11.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

But this will be the third time in his five NBA seasons that he will miss a significant amount of time on the court due to an injury or recovering from an injury.

Stevens acknowledged that he feels for Sullinger who once again has to go through rehabilitation in order to get back on the floor.

“I like Jared a lot,” Stevens said. “He’s a heck of a player, he’s a really smart guy. Got a lot of respect for him and it stinks that he’s got to go through that but he’ll come back strong I’m sure.”

The tough shots and a flawless 8-for-8 performance from the free throw line.

While it’s a 48-minute game, there was no getting around the fact that it was Toronto’s dominance in the third that ultimately determined the game’s outcome.

“If you look at it from our perspective it’s what went wrong; if you look at it from theirs, they ratcheted up the defense quite a bit (in the third quarter),” said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. “It was hard for us to break their … break their wall of defense.”

In the third quarter, Boston shot just 27.8 percent from the field, 30 percent (3-for-10) on 3’s and a woeful 5-for-10 from the free throw line.

“We started making everything difficult for them and not letting them get that easy in and try to take advantage of that,” said Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan.

Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds from Friday night’s game.

STARS

Kyle Lowry

The Celtics had no answer for the All-Star point guard who led all players with 34 points, 21 of which came in the second half.

Avery Bradley

Bradley was the lone Celtics starter who seemed to be in a good shooting flow, tallying 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting which included five made 3’s.

DeMar DeRozan

The Celtics made him work a lot harder than he usually does to score, but he still managed to tally 24 points – just four points below his season average – on 9-for-25 shooting.

STUDS

Al Horford

He made a few more turnovers than usual, but Horford still put together a relatively balanced performance. He had 19 points and seven rebounds with six assists and a blocked shot.

Norman Powell

The X-factor in Friday’s outcome had to be Powell. A 5.8 points per game scorer this season, Powell had 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting along with a game-high five steals.

DUDS

Jae Crowder

With Isaiah Thomas (right groin) out, the Celtics really needed its core starters to step up and have a productive night offensively. Crowder just didn’t have it going on Friday, scoring just seven points on 2-for-11 shooting which included a number of 3s that rimmed in and out on him.